The Insanity Code
by ocean's pebble
Summary: “Sunstreaker doesn’t exist, Sideswipe. The sooner you accept that, the better it will go for us all. Don’t you want to be sane again, Sideswipe?” slight AU. Oneshot.


**The Insanity Code**

"Sunstreaker doesn't exist, Sideswipe. The sooner you accept that, the better it will go for us all. Don't you want to be sane again, Sideswipe?" slight AU. Oneshot.

-

"Are you certain that we need this mech? I've looked at his records and… well… he doesn't exactly seem like the most stable mech." Optimus said worriedly.

Prowl shook his head. "We need more fighters on this venture. Someone who knows how to fight well. He is on the unstable side, but records also state that it rarely affects his performance during battle or outside of it."

Optimus frowned. "If you are entirely certain…" he trailed off doubtfully.

Prowl nodded decisively. "Yes. Sideswipe will be an excellent addition to our team, even if he is a little… glitched."

Optimus Prime could only hope that would be true. Taking on a mech who believed that he had twin no one could see… He prayed that this wouldn't end badly.

-

"Hi! Are you here for the new team that's being assembled too?" the red mech asked, bouncing up to white and black mech wearing a blue visor.

Jazz gave the bouncy mech a curious look. "I'm th' pick up fer th' group, my good mech." He grinned.

"Great! I'm Sideswipe, this is Sunstreaker, don't worry, he glares at everyone." He said with an answering grin, pointing over his shoulder with a thumb to empty air.

Jazz raised an optic ridge. "Um, who?" he asked curiously.

Sideswipe looked confused for a second, looking at the patch of open air to Jazz and back again before understanding dawned.

"Ohh… Sorry, I keep forgetting that not everyone can see Sunstreaker." Sideswipe said, smirk playing around his lips.

Jazz looked him oddly. "…Right." He said, wondering how on earth Prowl had picked THIS obviously glitched mech for the Prime's special team.

-

There were many rumors flying around Sideswipe and his… brother.

Everyone knew that there was no way that Sunstreaker was real… and yet, sometimes, when Sideswipe made a comment or laughed when no one said anything… they could almost believe that Sunstreaker was real.

Not to mention that Sideswipe got in fights with Sunstreaker.

Everyone knew about those, and they were just downright scary to watch, because half the time, Sideswipe would lose.

To a 'bot that didn't exist.

Or so they thought.

-

"Well, Ratchet? Did you find anything?" Prowl asked the red and white CMO.

Ratchet snorted. "There's nothing wrong with him." He said gruffly.

Prowl raised an optic ridge. "Are you quite certain?"

Ratchet leveled him a white-hot glare. "Slag yes I'm certain. There's absolutely nothing wrong with Sideswipe's processor, or circuits, or anything else you can think of for me to check."

Prowl bowed his head. "Of course. So you do not, in your expert medical opinion, think there is nothing wrong with a mech who claims to have an invisible brother?"

Ratchet slammed his wrench down on Prowl's head with a satisfying clang. "I'm saying," he said, patience oozing from his words, "That there's nothing wrong with his body and processor. I'm not an expert in sparks or in coping mechanisms, I just weld bodies together. If believing that 'Sunstreaker' is here and real keeps Sideswipe together, I refuse to try and tell him that Sunstreaker doesn't exist. I don't need a catatonic patient."

Prowl rubbed his head tiredly. "Yes Ratchet. I'll make certain to tell Prime and the others to just go along with Sideswipe's behavior."

-

Jazz first knew something was up when he started seeing smudges and drops of energon in halls that no one went into regularly.

The second clue he got was when he started to find scrapes of yellow paint wherever Sideswipe and 'Sunstreaker' tussled. It didn't match the shades that anyone on the ship used.

The final straw that broke the camel's back for Jazz was when he was going over the supplies list for the next resupply stop. He thought that there was more than the usual amount of energon, wash fluid, and medical supplies to grab. Quickly running calculations in his head, Jazz's optics widened.

They were supplying enough basic supplies for one extra crewmember than they had signed on.

For that moment, Jazz believed that Sunstreaker was real.

-

Mirage never knew what to quite think of Sideswipe.

On one hand, he was a valuable fighter, and a good, if a bit crooked, trader and supplier of goods. He was funny occasionally.

On the other, there was the obviously insane part that simply gave Mirage the chills.

Sunstreaker could not, did not, exist. It was illogical and stupid to believe so.

After all, no one could see him except Sideswipe. Which didn't exactly lead Mirage to think that Sunstreaker was actually there.

Wouldn't someone have noticed by now that another person is here, even if they are invisible?

Mirage cut his line of thought short with a small epiphany.

Most people didn't notice when he was invisible, either. That fact had saved his life on numerous occasions, and despite the fact that almost everyone on the Arc knew what he could do, they still forgot.

He sent Cliffjumper screaming from the rec room just last orn, if he remembered correctly. Granted, he had been trying to do so, but still…

Mirage frowned and pulled up his invisibility program, feeling the slight wash of heat signal that it was on.

He looked at his hand. It shimmered under his gaze, as if there was a centralized heatwave.

He continued down the hallway, cloaked from normal sight, undetectable by optics and from audio sensors as well if he moved quietly enough.

All of which was ruined as he turned around the corner.

A gasp escaped from his vocalizer.

-

Sideswipe frowned. He didn't feel Sunny anywhere near him.

That was weird. Sunstreaker normally stayed close to Sideswipe's side, not wanting to interact with the world that couldn't see him.

Sideswipe couldn't exactly blame him.

-

The mech slumped against the wall was a wreck.

His gold-yellow body was covered with scratches and dents, tiny bits of armor missing with wires poking through the holes. The red Autobot symbol on his chest was the only pristine thing about him. One optic was dark and shattered, with dried and crusted energon ringing it. His throat was also crusted with energon and sparked as he moved his head slightly.

Mirage was horrified. How could this have happened to any Autobot was beyond him.

"Hello? I'm Mirage, who are you? Can I help you to the repair bay?" he asked, words tumbling out of his vocalizer in a way reminiscent of Bluestreak.

He froze as he realized something; he was still invisible.

With a sheepish smile, he deactivated the program. "Sorry, I forgot that I had my…" his voice trailed off into silence as he saw that no one was there.

Optics wide, Mirage turned his cloak back on, scanning for the yellow mech. He was now farther down the hallway, standing up and wearing a strange bitter smile.

"Who are you?" Mirage asked in a whisper, eyes wide.

In response, the mech pointed to the patch of hallway he had been sitting in.

Mirage looked, then glanced back over his shoulder to see that the mech was gone.

Taking a closer look, Mirage yelped and backed up with his vents rapidly circulating air.

Etched into the metal was a name.

Sunstreaker.

-

Hound found Mirage later that solar cycle. He was pressed up against a wall in the hallway, optics locked on a spot on the wall across from him.

"Mirage? Are you okay?" Hound asked worriedly, putting a hand on Mirage's shoulder.

Mirage nodded slowly, mouth working but no sound coming out of his vocalizer. Finally, he managed to speak.

"C-could you take a look at the wall over there and tell me if you see anything… unusual?" Mirage asked weakly.

Hound, now very worried, marched over to the wall and began to inspect it, wondering all the while what Mirage was so upset about.

Then he spotted it.

The word, or rather name, etched into the metal.

Sunstreaker.

Hound turned back Mirage. "Who wrote this, Mirage? Do you know?" he asked gently.

Mirage nodded slowly. "He's real." He practically whispered.

Hound raised an optic ridge. "You aren't serious…. Are you?"

Mirage nodded, still looking at the spot where Sunstreaker's name resided.

Hound gaped in disbelief. Mirage was one of the most solid, logical people he knew (not counting Prowl.). If he said that Sunstreaker was real…

"So, Sideswipe isn't crazy. Who knew?" Hound said rhetorically.

-

"Hey Sunny! Where've ya been?" Sideswipe greeted the apparently empty air.

Most of the 'bots in the rec room ignored this apparent display of madness.

"Really? You actually did that?" Sideswipe asked with interest, head cocked to one side in an obvious listening pose.

He flinched and dodged a blow that no one saw.

"Excuse me for being curious. Jeez, you're such a psychotic glitch…" Sideswipe muttered, yelping as he was tackled by an unseen foe.

A few 'bots looked over and did a double take as they watched a mech wrestle with an invisible enemy and lose.

"Alright, alright, you win! Now get offa me!" Sideswipe growled.

He sat up a moment later, brushing himself off. He then glared at where Sunstreaker was now standing, presumably. "Stop complaining! You were the one that slagging attacked me!"

Mirage watched with wide optics from his invisible spot in a corner.

He could see Sunstreaker, saw him swat at Sideswipe and then tackle him to the floor, apparently ignoring how the motion tore some fresh wounds to drip energon on the floor.

Saw him pull himself off of Sideswipe and cross his arms over his chest, apparently complaining about something to Sideswipe.

Mirage then knew, without a doubt, that Sunstreaker was real, a living mech. And that he needed help.

He was falling apart at the seams, losing energon at slow but steady rate, and obviously hadn't seen a medic for at least a vorn.

Mirage shimmered into existence and decided to go talk to Wheeljack. He, out of anyone, would know how to fix this.

-

"Wheeljack?" Mirage called cautiously, stepping into the lab warily.

You never knew what might explode in these places.

"Ah, Mirage! Could you help me untangle myself from these cords, please?" Wheeljack called, hidden behind a stack of… things.

Mirage really didn't want to know what they were.

Stepping around the stack, Mirage was confronted with the sight of Wheeljack practically mummified by brightly colored rope.

Raising an optic ridge, Mirage asked, "How did this happen?" as he started to free Wheeljack from his tangled prison.

Wheeljack looked sheepish. "Well, Prowl confiscated them from Sideswipe, and I grabbed them to see if they could be useful for anything… I got a little carried away."

Mirage snorted in amusement. "You can say that again." He said with a slight smile, one that soon faded as he worked Wheeljack free of the last bit of cord. "Wheeljack, about Sideswipe…" he hesitated.

Wheeljack looked up from where he was organizing the cords by color. "Yes? Is this leading up to something about Sunstreaker?" he asked, optics boring holes into Mirage's spark.

Mirage gaped for a second. "Uh, yeah…" he trailed off, not certain where to go from there.

Wheeljack sighed, placing the cords to one side. "Sideswipe believes that Sunstreaker is real, Mirage. He's not really there, but it keeps Sideswipe entertained and out of the way."

Mirage coughed uncomfortably. "Um, about the whole 'Sunstreaker-isn't-real' thing…" he trailed off once more.

Wheeljack's optics widened and his vocal indicators flashed. "You believe he's real too?" he exclaimed.

Mirage nodded sharply. "I've seen him, Wheeljack." He ran his glossa over his labial plating, trying to think on how to proceed. "Sunstreaker's real. I… I think he might have been… well, I think he's a failed experiment in the same technology that gave me my invisibility program." He said, finally getting the idea out in the open.

Wheeljack gaped for a moment as his processor began to process that statement.

A failed experiment in invisibility… Wheeljack recalled Ratchet ranting over how Sideswipe would 'borrow' his tools and materials, Sideswipe fighting what appeared to be simple air and losing, and the fact that he knew he kept some solar grenades in the locker under the table, and they weren't there anymore…

And he could have sworn that someone used them in the last battle.

"Primus…" Wheeljack breathed, understanding dawning on his face.

Mirage nodded, feeling relieved that Wheeljack had believed him. "My thoughts exactly. I was… er, practicing with my invisibility cloak some solar cycles ago, and I saw him only when I was invisible. I did some research on what the scientist's did for the program and it looks like they included a failsafe – one that makes it so that if I'm invisible, I can see anyone else that the scientists turned invisible, and they can see me." Mirage ended, looking at Wheeljack expectantly.

He was not disappointed.

The inventor cum engineer cum scientist cum medic was muttering rapidly to himself, vocal indicators flashing madly.

He obviously was ready to fix this problem.

-

"Sunstreaker?" Mirage called softly, catching a glimpse of energon stained yellow armor. "Can I talk to you?"

He turned to the corner to see Sunstreaker waiting for him, arms folded across his chassis, head cocked in an obviously interrogatory stance.

"Um, I hope you don't mind, but I went to Wheeljack about your, um, problem… and he might have a solution, and he wants to try it out, and he sent me to get you. So, um, will you come? If his invention works we're going to pull you down to Ratchet immediately because I doubt you've had a maintenance exam in at least a vorn…" Mirage trailed off under the gimlet stare that Sunstreaker was leveling at him.

Then, suddenly, Sunstreaker's face morphed from the deadly scowl he was projecting to a slight smirk. He unfolded his arms and gave a sharp nod.

Mirage gave a silent sigh of relief, as he smiled in return. "Come on, let's go." He invited, turning his back and walking away, Sunstreaker acting as his silent shadow.

-

"Wheeljack? We're here." Mirage called out as the door to Wheeljack's lab hissed open.

"Mirage? Good, good. Is Sunstreaker with you?" Wheeljack asked, voice coming from behind yet another stack of inventions and parts.

Mirage nodded, then smacked himself mentally when he realized that one, he was still invisible, and two, Wheeljack wouldn't have seen him anyways, because he was out of Wheeljack's line of sight. "Yes, he's here." Mirage said, ignoring the amused expression on a certain yellow mech's facial plating.

"Great!" Wheeljack said cheerily, coming out from behind the stack of things.

Mirage raised an optic ridge. Wheeljack was wearing what appeared to be enormous goggles that were somehow strapped to his head. He had another pair in his hands.

Wheeljack grinned. "I know, they look ridiculous Mirage." Then his optics widened as his gaze landed on Sunstreaker.

"Hey, Sunstreaker, right? Will you come with me to see Ratchet? He can take care of that vocalizer and that shattered optic of yours, as well as anything else that's hurting." Wheeljack's voice was gentle.

Sunstreaker nodded, a hint of a smile playing around his labial plates.

Mirage, however, just stared at Wheeljack in shock. "You can see us?" he asked incredulously.

Wheeljack grinned. "Isn't that what you asked me to do?" he replied.

-

"Wheeljack, I don't care how many times you've blown yourself up this joor, I am not-" Ratchet began to lecture, stopping short as he saw Wheeljack, relatively unharmed and wearing a pair of what looked like goggles.

Ratchet noticed the pair in his hands and sighed. "Let me guess, I'm supposed to wear those?" He asked, hand outstretched to receive them.

Wheeljack grinned. "Let's just say you have another patient."

Ratchet looked at Wheeljack suspiciously then put the goggles on. His optics widened, then narrowed, as he saw Mirage and Sunstreaker standing behind Wheeljack.

"Don't tell me. This is Sunstreaker." Ratchet grumbled, glaring at Wheeljack.

Mirage looked at Ratchet anxiously. "You are going to fix him, aren't you?"

Ratchet grunted. "Yeah. Get your aft on that bed there, Sunstreaker. I'll fix ya up."

Sunstreaker did as the medic requested, unable to keep a small smile off of his face.

-

"This is just… ridiculous." Ratchet said gruffly as he bent over Sunstreaker's off-line form, fixing all of the minor injuries and re-patching all of the major ones.

"Almost all of these injuries are so minor that a first level medical apprentice could fix them. And only the fact that he was invisible kept him from medical attention." Ratchet growled, carefully replacing a gear in Sunstreaker's left knee joint.

Wheeljack shrugged. "But you're fixing him now, and that's all that matters. And when you're done, I can find that slagging invisibility program that's caused all of this chaos and get rid of it."

Wheeljack barely had the time to duck as one of Ratchet's favorite wrenches came at him. "What was that for?" he yelped indignantly.

"Because you're obviously glitched if you think I'm going to let you do such a sensitive surgery. I know what belongs in his systems, I've fixed his brother up plenty of times to know that, and I've fixed Mirage enough to have a basic idea of where the thing's located and what it will look like." Ratchet explained, taking a long suffering tone.

Wheeljack digested that. "Oh. Okay. You didn't need to throw a wrench at me though." He stated.

Ratchet sighed. "'Jack, just get out of my repair bay."

Wheeljack shrugged. "Okay. I'll be back in a joor or so with some energon cubes, though. C'mon Mirage." He grabbed the still invisible spy and towed him out of the Hatchet's lair.

-

Sideswipe sighed in frustration as he stared moodily down at the cube of energon in hands, taking a gulp.

He had no slagging idea where the idiot fragger he called his brother was, and it was eating him alive!

Sunny was always a short distance away from him, ready to come and help him if he needed it and vice versa. It made Sideswipe anxious when he wasn't, because he could feel that his brother's body was beginning to break down without the attentions of a certified medic.

Sideswipe could barely figure out where Sunstreaker was most of the time, how was he supposed to repair him?

He slumped farther down on the table, depression overtaking him.

Then the doors on the other side of the rec room opened to a golden yellow form that Sideswipe knew as well as his own, if not better.

Sideswipe stared in disbelief, mouth hanging open as Bluestreak moved over to talk to his brother.

-

Bluestreak wasn't certain who this strange mech was. He'd never seen him before, and considering that he was on a ship in the middle of deep space, away from any planet, that didn't exactly set off the happy trusting bells in his head.

He opened his mouth to ask the mech what his designation was when something red barreled past him and knocked him over.

When Bluestreak's processor stopped ringing, he looked up and could only gape at the sight his optics presented him with.

Sideswipe was clinging to the yellow mech with all the tenacity of a space barnacle, and was alternately chanting, "You're here/You're visible" over and over while the yellow mech shifted uncomfortably.

Finally, the yellow mech seemed to reach the end of his patience and worked an arm free to whack Sideswipe over the head with a loud clang.

Optics wide, Bluestreak (and the rest of the mechs in the room) looked on with apprehension, knowing full well how vicious Sideswipe could get in a fight.

"Oww… What the frag was that for, Sunny?" Sideswipe whined, rubbing his helm.

The yellow mech flickered his optics in annoyance. "Because you were acting like a glitch, Sideswipe. And how many times do I have to tell you not to call me that idiotic nick-name? I know you can manage three syllables, you don't call the Prime by an obnoxious nick-name." His voice was deep and dark.

Sideswipe pouted. "Well, duh. He's the Prime. But you're my twin, I'm supposed to irritate you." He replied.

Everyone in the rec room froze at that casual statement.

Twin?

Sideswipe didn't have a brother… he had an invisible… twin…

Who apparently wasn't so invisible anymore.

"And that's why I have to dent you. Someone has to keep you in line." Sunstreaker retorted, stalking over to the energon dispenser and grabbing a cube.

"Say what? Don't give me that slag, you can't dent me." Sideswipe said with a smirk.

Sunstreaker gave him a knowing look. "Sides, I'm going to ask you a quick question; do you really want to fight with me right now? In front of the entire room, possibly being thrown in the brig after I'm done beating you?"

Sideswipe snorted. "I can take you on with one hand behind my back!" he challenged.

Sunstreaker grinned ferally, chugging his cube of energon and carelessly tossing it on the closest table. "You asked for it." He said casually, launching himself at his brother with a roar.

The two tussled playfully (for them) on the floor as the doors opened once more to reveal Jazz and Prowl, done with a grueling work shift and wanting nothing more than some energon and some recharge.

The two mechs brawling on the floor didn't exactly help that wish.

Prowl twitched slightly as Jazz rubbed a hand over his visor tiredly.

About to ask the scattered mechs around the room to help them break up the fight, Sunstreaker ended it for them, managing to get on top of his brother and pin him to the ground, twisting his arms up and smirking.

"Say it." Sunstreaker grunted.

Sideswipe pouted. "I hate you." He said childishly.

Sunstreaker's mouth twitched slightly. "I know. Say it and I'll let you up so you can explain to the nice officers what happened here."

Sideswipe chocked and glared at the floor. "Fine, you win! What officers?" he asked as Sunstreaker climbed off of him and gave him a hand up.

Sunstreaker pointed to Prowl and Jazz, the former tapping his foot and looking very fragged off and the latter shaking his head.

"Oh… Those officers. Yeah, I should probably go talk to them." Sideswipe said with a look of dawning comprehension.

"Have fun." Sunstreaker said, smirking.

"Nuh-uh. You're coming with me." Sideswipe said firmly, grabbing his brother's large audio receptors and dragging him after him.

"Hi Prowl. Hi Jazz. How's it going?" Sideswipe asked with a grin, looking far happier than he rightfully should.

Prowl's optics narrowed. "Care to tell me who this friend of yours is, and why, precisely, you were fighting with him?"

Sideswipe hemmed and hawed. "Heh, well, that's a kinda funny story, Prowl, and a bit long too, maybe you just-"

Sunstreaker cut him off. "Just tell him and get it over with Sideswipe." The yellow twin said, jerking free of Sideswipe's hold.

Prowl shot him an icy look. "Do I know you?" he asked sharply.

Sunstreaker smirked. "Nope, but I know you." He replied.

Prowl's doorwings gave a violent twitch at that, and Jazz had to snicker at the mech's utter confidence and bravery.

"Excuse me?" Prowl's voice could have frozen the room.

"Well, you did hire me. Technically." Sunstreaker said, smirk staying on his face.

Sideswipe groaned and slapped his hand against his face. "You're so not helping, Sunny." He muttered.

Sunstreaker turned and whacked him on the head again. "I told you not to call me that, fragger!" he hissed.

Jazz's optics widened as he put the pieces together. "You're Sunstreaker, Sideswipe's twin." He said suddenly, drawing all attention towards him.

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe both scowled at him. "Spoilsport." They said in unison.

Jazz offered them a grin in return. "Hey, I just wanted be done with this before the orn's over. Some us need to recharge in time for third shift."

"Um, not to intrude or anything, cuz I'd hate to be rude or anything like that but I just wanted to know something really quickly before Prowl marched you off to the brig or something like-"

Prowl sighed. "Bluestreak, spit it out."

The nervous gunner nodded jerkily. "Um, why aren't you invisible anymore?" he asked Sunstreaker.

Sunstreaker cycled his vents slowly. "You can thank your medic and resident demolitions expert for that." He said, smirk climbing around his labial plates.

Sideswipe's optic ridges rose. "Ratchet and Wheeljack fixed you?"

Jazz had to chuckle inwardly at Sunstreaker's description of Wheeljack. It fit the 'bot that had at least one explosion in his lab per orn.

Sunstreaker nodded.

Prowl seemed to come to an internal decision. "You two, come to my office by the fourth shift. We'll talk more then." He said, promise lurking in his tone of voice.

Two heads nodded, one red, one yellow, in perfect synchronization.

-

end! Kind of a blerg ending, but this thing started to drag, and drag, and drag… so I cut it off.

Reviews would be awesome (hint hint) and as always, questions/comments/concerns, you can PM me or drop a review (hint hint).

Did I mention that it would be nice if you reviewed? (hint hint)


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